The Marble Run contains curved tracks, ramps and chutes that fit together in countless variations. Once the course is assembled, drop the marbles in and watch them go. Components are easy to assemble, and made with small hands in mind. Sturdy plastic construction resists wear and stands up to hours of play. Assembly instructions included.

Things to try as you construct:

Build a marble run that starts as high as a chair seat, or a pencil, or whatever is convenient to measure against. How many seconds does a marble take to get through that marble run? (Use a clock with a second hand or a stopwatch function on a phone).

·Rebuild your marble run so that it is the same height but goes as FAST as possible -- how many seconds did that marble take to get from start to finish?

Try the same thing, but try to make the marble run as SLOW as possible instead. What was the best strategy to slow it down or speed it up?

For extra fun, use your marble run together with other objects -- see if you can kick off a train of dominoes falling, for example -- does this work better with a marble that is moving quickly or slowly? (Other objects you could try combining with it include rulers with a channel down the center, foam pipe insulation cut in half, paper towel tubes or wrapping paper tubes, etc.)